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July 24, 2010

G98: Mariners 5, Red Sox 1

Lester retired the first 16 batters and finished his night with a career-high 13 strikeouts, but he was ineffective in the eighth inning and Terry Francona left him out on the mound far beyond any common sense. Lester (7.2-4-5-1-13) threw a season-high 124 pitches.

For me, this was the most infuriating loss of the season. Losses affect us in different ways. Some can be shrugged off -- everything goes according to plan, but the players are human so there will be poorly located pitches, strikeouts, bad hops, whatever. Others can be stunning (literally) or demoralizing, while others provoke anger.

I haven't been this pissed off while a game unraveled in a very long time. With games like the ninth-inning meltdown last Thursday, there is a helpless -- "why is this happening and will it stop anytime soon?" -- feeling, where everything is in its place, but things do not go well.

Tonight was a game where Francona's decisions seemed to run counter to what he almost always does. When we see the exact opposite of what we have come to know (and respect) about this team occurring, that's when the blood boils.

Lester trailed 2-1, but had allowed only one hit through the first seven innings. Milton Bradley tripled to right-center on pitch #104, but Lester came back to strike out Josh Bard for the 13th K. After a visit from John Farrell, the infield was playing for a possible squeeze -- and that's exactly what happened. Jack Wilson put down a perfect bunt on a 1-1 pitch that was at forehead height -- he even had to hop a little to make good contact. The bunt was too far out in front of the plate for Kevin Cash to field and Lester's only play was to first. Seattle led 3-1. Here is where I would have pulled Lester.

Michael Saunders ran the count full, then lined a single off what looked like Lester's left foot. Tito and the trainer came out, but Lester waved them away. He seemed fine. The injury visit did not count as a trip to the mound, but it was the ideal time to make a move. Manny Delcarmen had been warming up. But Francona left Lester in.

He walked Ichiro on five pitches -- now, Tito? -- then gave up a first-pitch double down the right field line to Chone Figgins. It was now 4-1 and Seattle had runners on second and third.

Finally, in came Delcarmen. He walked Franklin Gutierrez to load the bases, then hit Jose Lopez to force in a run. (He had allowed his last six batters to reach base.) After ball 1 to Justin Smoak, Farrell came back out to chat. MDC's next pitch was crushed to deep right and J.D. Drew caught it maybe 5-7 feet from the wall. A grand slam would not have surprised me in the least.

Why did Francona leave Lester in so long? And if he was so wary of using Delcarmen, then why get him up at all? [Maybe he offered some reasons in his post-game comments.]

Adding to the frustration was the fact that the Yankees had lost to the Royals 7-4. The recent inability to gain any ground in the East has been annoying:

Pauley has pitched only 15 innings for the Mariners this year, three relief appearances followed by two starts. He appears to play in the majors in even-numbered years only, as his other time in with bigs was with Boston in 2006 and 2008.

Today's game had it all -- a brawl featuring A-Rod and Varitek, 4 Red Sox errors (including 3 on three consecutive plays), New York taking a quick 3-0 lead, Boston coming back 4-3 (with 4 hits on four consecutive pitches in the 4th), Tito getting ejected, blowing the lead and trailing 9-4, cutting the gap to 9-8, falling back 10-8, and then winning the game 11-10 with a 2-run Mueller home run off Rivera in the 9th. ... And two perfect innings from Ramiro Mendoza. ...

This game could really turn this team around. They played hard Friday, but fell short. Today, they stormed right back after both the fight and the Yankees' 6-run 6th and puts several runs on the board. ... I'm ready for a 20-4 run. I believe! How about you?

It took a little while to get going -- this game was not the instant spark it is remembered as (Boston went 7-6 over their next 13 games) -- but from August 10 to September 4, the Red Sox were 20-4!

And what a nice thing to come home to last night. Pretty respectable outing by Beckett first time back. And Atchison has quietly started to become somewhat consistent in the middle relief spot, which has been a real sore spot this year. If he can deliver a good inning or inning and a half on a regular basis, with Bard doing his superman act and Pap starting to warm up, well, I'm feeling good about my seat on the bus!

I believe with the lack of confidence in Jonathan Papelbon, and the quick demise of Keith Foulke in Boston. Has alot to do with Mariaon Rivera and the pedestal he has been put in . We tend to look at closer who should never blow a game, never have baserunners, and when he comes into the game , it should be over.

Pap has 22 saves good for 4th in the AL, everyone with 20 saves or more has blown at leat 2 games, besides one, Jose Valverde has blown 1, Pap has blown 4, Pap of those guys with 20 or more saves is fifth in WHIP out of ten.

Point being, we have all seen Mo blow games, big games, and Pap as well, it is a tough job, one Pap volunteered for, when no else would do it. I am just asking to have a little faith in him because some of you may get what you wish for. And sit there and wish we still had Bot.....

I believe with the lack of confidence in Jonathan Papelbon, and the quick demise of Keith Foulke in Boston. Has alot to do with Mariaon Rivera and the pedestal he has been put in . We tend to look at closer who should never blow a game, never have baserunners, and when he comes into the game , it should be over.

Yes. Totally.

Because our historic rivals have had The Greatest Closer Ever for so long, our standards are all out of whack.

If we took Mariano out of the mix, what does a good (normal human) closer look like?

After the other night when MDC faced 4 batters, got no one out, and they all scored, and on a night when we could gain a game on the MFY, wh the hell would you put him back in there to screw up what has been a great start by Lester?A little anger is not out of line at all. I'm pissed.